tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2529370900057801262018-03-05T21:19:58.950+02:00Upstart on RadioThis blog is all about the work that will be produced by some of the young people from Upstart. Tom Sizeland and I, Refilwe Mpshe work in partnership with these young people in producing radio shows for Rhodes Music Radio as part of our fourth year radio course.Words by Refilwehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02376708679767969292noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252937090005780126.post-68241292901940087692011-08-04T18:01:00.002+02:002011-08-04T18:03:44.480+02:00Hope for Upstart on Radio<span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">Tom and I have come to the end of our time with Upstart on Radio. Our final meeting with Upstart Project Manager Shireen Badat and Rhodes Music Radio Station Manager Gugulethu Mahlangu left me feeling disappointed after all the work we have all put into the project. There is hope yet for this project but the sentiment was that the project has not managed to necessarily establish a workable and sustainable model for Upstart to be on radio. This is due to a few factors, but all may not be lost so bear with me as I take you through our debriefing session. </span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;"><a name='more'></a></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">Right from the start, in consultation with Gugulethu and Shireen, we decided that our aim was to help Upstart create a radio show that would be informative and punctuated with fun material for young people to enjoy. We also wanted to stay true to the Upstart newspaper and so we spent time with the Upstarters helping them repurpose some of the content from the newspaper into short features for radio. After further meetings with Upstart and RMR, we decided that the Upstarters would instead conduct live interviews during the YUNG Amplified show which was successfully done over two weeks.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">Our partnership with Upstart was about service learning and first prize is always to have a mutually beneficial relationship that would ultimately leave something sustainable for the Upstarters to run with as soon as Tom and I were no longer part of the team. Coming to the end of the project, we decided to have our final meeting with everyone involved to hand over and see if we could establish a way for the two partners (RMR and Upstart) to continue with this project. </span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">Tom and I held a debriefing session with the Upstarters, Gugulethu and Shireen. The team spoke about their experience and what they enjoyed and learned during their time on this project. They were not very forthcoming with information about what they thought could have been improved, but remained appreciative for the experience. I think it was important for Gugulethu and Shireen to be present, but perhaps the presence of adults made the Upstarters timid. It could very well be that Tom and I needed to step out and allow them to speak honestly to Shireen about what could be improved. Nonetheless, they were grateful for the experience of learning some radio skills and actually being on radio. What followed was a discussion with Gugulethu and Shireen about where the project can go after Tom and I step back. Shireen spoke about how funding remained a problem for Upstart and that she will be unable to commit the time and money it takes to ensuring that the Upstarters are able to come to weekly broadcasts. She also discussedsome of what Upstart on Radio may demand in the next few months. Gugulethu’s sense seemed to be that, because we were unable to get a working model, it would be difficult to continue the relationship. Also, given the fact that we were unable to meet and establish a relationship with YUNG Amplifed’s producer Buhle Knoke who has subsequently resigned from this post, no one would be there to take on the responsibility of putting in the work to continue the partnership. </span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">This is where the glimmer of hope comes in for the partnership. Given the difficulties we have experienced with this project, and the opportunity that Buhle’s resignation has presented, I decided to avail myself as a producer for the YUNG Amplified show. I really believe in this project and think it would be a real waste if this project came to nothing. I also think that from the relationship I have formed with both RMR and Upstart, I am in the position to continue finding ways for YUNG Amplified to sustainably work with Upstart. </span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">My feeling is that this project was a worthwhile one. When Tshego Letswalo and Ross Alford worked on this project in 2010 as fourth year radio practitioners, they managed to get 30 minute long shows recorded. It was unsustainable, but a demonstration of what these young people are capable of doing. In the same way, I think that the Upstarters did well when they were given 15 minutes to interview someone on the YUNG Amplified show this year. I will meet officially with RMR and the YUNG presenters soon to talk about my role as producer and to brainstorm ideas for the way forward with our partnership with Upstart. I hope to continue this blog as I look forward to another six months of breathing life into this project.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">For the moment, my recommendation for the future of the partnership between Upstart and RMR is that if a future generation of fourth year radio journalism students were to take this on, it should be a year-long project. This way there would be time to get past the trial and error, and an even greater opportunity to make the goals of in-service learning come alive. I look forward to keeping this partnership alive through my role as producer and hope that by the end of this year, my assessment will be that Upstart is working beautifully with YUNG Amplified and that they will have a great working relationship for years to come.</span>Words by Refilwehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02376708679767969292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252937090005780126.post-61711962321851813232011-08-04T17:53:00.004+02:002011-08-04T18:04:07.262+02:00Things are looking up<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">Friday turned out better than I expected. I was in the Radio section of the Journalism Department at Rhodes University waiting for the Upstarters at 2.30pm as usual. They came in, one, two, three, four, five. I nearly got up from my seat to do a victory dance! All five of them had arrived for the first time in weeks. If you’ve been keeping up with the blog posts, you may be expecting there to be six members, but my colleague Tom and I heard from Shireen, Upstarts project manager, earlier in the week that our sixth member now has other commitments and can no longer attend. I’m happy to do a victory dance for five committed Upstarters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0rQHtUmw2y0/TjrBrmV3ZKI/AAAAAAAAACc/WpLY0GcgYbI/s1600/IMG_7889.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0rQHtUmw2y0/TjrBrmV3ZKI/AAAAAAAAACc/WpLY0GcgYbI/s320/IMG_7889.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Simakhele chatting to his guest</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">We spent Friday’s session preparing the Upstarters for the first two interviews that would be happening the next day. Bathabile and Aphiwe were scheduled to arrive with questions that they would be asking their interviewees the very next day. Aphiwe was scheduled to interview Shireen but she had indicated to him that she would be unavailable on Saturday at the time of the interview. So Simamkhele offered to do his interview. </span></span><br /><a name='more'></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">Tom sat with Bathabile and helped him prepare for the interview. He had, as suggested, conducted a prelim interview but he went a little further by recording it on his phone. By Tom’s assessment, he had done well and was ready for the live interview. I then spent time with Simamkhele helping him tweak his questions and prepare for the interview. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">The rest of Friday was spent on brainstorming ideas for interviewees for some of the other Upstarters. As well as recording some of the content that still remained to be voiced. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">Saturday was the best part. In studio, the team was having a good time. Bathabile was the first to interview his guest. He did rather well for his first time. Both of them were nervous, but this was to be expected. While Bathabile interviewed, Simamkhele took me outside the studio feeling really nervous, so we spent a few minutes going over his questions again. He sat on the couch with his arms on his head trying to calm himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>My words to him were that he was going to be having a conversation. He had had several conversations with his guest before and that’s how he had gotten to know him. The live interview would be no different, he just needed to stop thinking about the live aspect of it because that was what was causing him the nervousness. His main concern was that he may forget his questions so the advice to him was not to be note bound, but to know in his head what he would like to chat about and to let the questions flow from there and from the conversation. . He stood up, shook himself and said, “Thank you sisi, I’m ready.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">The two YUNG Amplified anchors graciously gave Bathabile and Simamkhele space on their show to conduct their interviews, but at times tended to take over. This was done mostly when Bathabile was interviewing since he was the first to go. During a song, Tom asked them to give him the space to do the interview uninterrupted as far as is possible. They respected this for the most part.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">Simamkhele had a moment during his interview where his fear came true, his mind froze and the question did not come. Up went his hands on his head and nothing from his mouth. His guest kept speaking and covered for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>If you were listening on the other side, I’m confident you wouldn’t have suspected a thing because there was no dead air. A very lucky save. It was smooth sailing after that, with the occasional take over from the anchors. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">Besides a few glitches, the energy in the studio was amazing. It was young and fun. I think that if Bathabile and Simamkhele were given one or two more interviews to do live, they wouldn’t need anymore lucky saves and they will be able to conduct amazing interviews. Nonetheless, they did very well. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">I think that having the others in the studio was also good for them because as soon as we left the studio, Aphiwe came to me and told me he now understand why Shireen and I had, the previous day, tried to convince him to interview someone younger than Shireen. He will now be pursuing an interview with someone younger that Shireen had suggested while we brainstormed on Friday. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">We ended off with a debrief session where Bathabile and Simamkhele spoke about how they felt the interviews went, what they would have liked to improve and what they enjoyed. They also gave the other three some words of advice about interviewing. Their main words were “stay calm, live radio makes you nervous, but if you stay calm you’ll be fine.”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">The moral is high and I think we may be getting to the end of a tunnel and closer to the light. It’s now upon Tom to get stay in touch with RMR this week work out the logistics that remain around the collaboration of YUNG Amplified and Upstart. Sustainability is still our main concern as we near the end of our time working on this project. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">If you’d like to get another take on this weekend’s sessions, please click here to see Tom’s post. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>I’ll be included some clips of the interviews sometime in the week. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">Refilwe </span></span></div>Words by Refilwehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02376708679767969292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252937090005780126.post-50501169519657417292011-05-20T10:08:00.003+02:002011-08-04T18:04:29.235+02:00Lessons and reflections this week<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">This past week has been filled with lesson about communication. I’m beginning to feel a little like a blunt instrument in this service learning project, so I’m having to remind myself of the importance of service learning and why this project is important. I’m feeling this way because, again, we were unable to secure a full house of Upstarters. Granted,&nbsp;four out of&nbsp;six is a better number than the two or three that have been coming in the past few weeks but we’re at such a crucial stage of the project that it would be great if everything <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>was simply falling into place. </span><br /><a name='more'></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">But on the positive side, some new decisions have been made and a few more lessons learnt. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">I went back to the theory of service learning and was reminded by Andrew Furco (1996) that, through service learning our theory is put into practice as we are faced with challenging situations. I’d like to tell Furco that it has indeed been a challenge. Our one challenge has been ongoing and that is getting all of the Upstarters all together at the same time to work towards generating content and leaving the team with something sustainable.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">I do think the overarching challenge has been communication. With so many people involved with this partnership - the six Upstarters, the Upstart management team, Rhodes Music Radio, Tom and myself and our Lecturer Jeanne du Toit - I’m convinced that communication is what can make or break this project. During previous weeks we realised that we need to communicate better with Upstart management in ensuring that the Upstart Radio team know when they should be arriving for our sessions, the days, times and venue. We met last week with Shireen, Upstart’s project manager, to finally resolve this and ensure that we would be having all six Upstarters arrive for our session on Friday and Saturday. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">Something went wrong and only three came on Friday and four on Saturday. Shireen came to both sessions and I’m at least happy to say that we managed to get a renewed commitment from the Upstart team members that arrived. Shireen has committed to speaking to teachers and parents about freeing the students time to allow them to come to the sessions and alternative arrangements be made for their extra lessons and such. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">We also realised, later in the week, that we had been neglecting the communication with our other partner RMR. From our communication with the station manager Gugulethu during the past week, Xabiso seemed to be the favoured of the two auditions. Tom and I were still under the impression that one of the two Upstarters who auditioned would be co-anchoring on the YUNG Amplified show. We discovered later that week that Gugs had a different impression, that we would be having our own independent 30 minute show that would be given a slot in the YUNG Amplified time slot and that the Upstarter would be anchoring that show. When I saw this email from Gugs about what RMR had thought was the agreement, I made a note to myself: always make sure that everyone is on the same page when working with several partners on a community project. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">Nevertheless, we met with Gugs to talk about the way forward and to ‘get on to the same page’. Our agreement was that Xabiso, Reggie and Aphiwe would be given opportunities to interview people and based on their performance, over time they may be given the opportunity to co anchor with the two anchors currently hosting the YUNG Amplified show.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">For our Friday session, we had Xabiso, Aphiwe and Reggie arrive with Shireen. We waited for the others to arrive but they were a no show. Our plan for Friday’s session was to brief the team about the way forward, to brainstorm ideas for the potential interviewees as well as to work on editing the content that everyone has been working on since we last met with them. With only the three regulars there, we decided to simply brief them on our agreement with RMR and then commissioned them to go home and think about the people they would like to interview for the YUNG Amplified show. Xabiso didn’t need a day; he quickly suggested he would like to interview Ras, one of the soccer coaches from his area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>He says that he’s a good coach and his team does well at matches. Shireen took him home and reports that they went to speak to RAs immediately and that Xabiso is very excited to interview the coach. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">We re-convened the following day but this time at the RMR. Xabiso didn’t arrive, but Reggie and Aphiwe were the first there. The show hosts welcomed them and created a space for them to contribute to the show. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, though, it seems that Reggie and Aphiwe are not yet confident behind the mic. The whole idea of being live and the pressure of having to say something on the spot may have gotten to them and they seemed to be rather shy. Bathabile and Simamkhele arrived later after math extra classes and they received the same welcome from the YUNG hosts and the two of them were loving the microphone. They did very well at debating and discussing their thoughts on the topic of the show saying that their parents and grandparents need to wear clothes appropriate to their age and may not wear leggings and skinny jeans. If you were in studio, you wouldn’t have been able to resist chuckling. We’ve obviously neglected to identify these two as possible anchor because they were the addition to our team and Tom and I haven’t had that much interaction with them. Luckily we have identified this in time. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">Perhaps we should have brought the Upstarters into the RMR studio a lot sooner in the year. I think the reality of a radio station, unlike the simple studio we have in the Journalism Department helped them realise the nature of radio. I think we also take it for granted that not everyone has seen an actual radio station where shows actually go live. After seeing their individual performances on live radio, we decided that all of the Upstarters would get an opportunity to interview someone. Since this involves making airtime available for six people, we will allow each member to interview someone for 15 minutes, but splitting this into three different mini interviews to focus on different aspects of the person they are interviewing. This will of course take the format of pre-recorded interviews. We’ve decided that we will do two interviews per week. During our Friday session, Tom and I will allow the Upstarter doing the interview on Saturday, to interview one of the two in the form of a mock interview so we can begin to coach them through the process of interviewing. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">We had a debrief session about the show and the general feeling was excitement. We then spent time brainstorming ideas for people each of them would like to interview. They’ve all got a week now to make contact with the people they will be interviewing. Tom and I have asked each of them to do preliminary interviews with their potential interviewees and to also prepare questions which they will bring on Friday. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">There is still hope for this project and we have three weeks to create something sustainable. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">For another perspective on this past week’s event, click here to go to Tom’s blog. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">Refilwe</span></div><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;"></span>Words by Refilwehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02376708679767969292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252937090005780126.post-48750900700507490212011-05-02T09:54:00.006+02:002011-08-04T18:06:51.296+02:00By many or by few<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">The past two weeks have been rather disappointing considering that two or three of the Upstarters showed up. This past Friday Xabiso and Reggie were the only two to arrive, while the weekend before the two of them showed along with Aphiwe. Our first show should ideally be this coming weekend, and if that’s going to happen, we as a team have a great deal to do if we’re going to make it come together. Let me walk you through what we did manage to do and my current thoughts. <br /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-twf9H89Tz5Y/TcKVVw5MevI/AAAAAAAAACQ/LwEnBHatfls/s320/P1010011.JPG" /></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">Reggie and Xabiso searching through old Upstart editions for content. </span><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kemwvVbeXoI/TcKVcxSnsPI/AAAAAAAAACU/aU4WywW25fI/s1600/P1010009.JPG"><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kemwvVbeXoI/TcKVcxSnsPI/AAAAAAAAACU/aU4WywW25fI/s320/P1010009.JPG" /></span></a><br /><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;">It all began with the breakdown in communication that I spoke about in my last blog post. Since then we have tried to rectify this and make earlier arrangements to have the team arrive for our meeting on this past Friday especially, but alas, our efforts have failed. I do think we are at the stage where we desperately need to meet with our partners, the Upstart management team, and talk about the way forward.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, sans-serif;"><br />With only two or three team members to work with, we’ve been doing what we can and trying not to give them more than they can do. It would be far too easy to make then pick up the slack for the rest of the team but we can’t forget that they are school children and have other commitments such as Upstart, and extra mural activities. And we would not want to reward their dedication with more work than is their fair share. <br /><br />We have taken them in studio and recording their work. This term is all about creating the content so we created content with the guys that showed up. For some of the things that their recording, we’re finding that vox pops of their friends experiences of the Upstart event being reported about, would add colour to the piece so we’re asking them to go home with recorders and speak to their peers. We will only be hearing this content next weekend. <br /><br />More excitingly, we helped Xabiso and Rggie put together brief auditions for RMR to be anchors for the YUNG Amplified show. It turns out that Aviwe and Reggie never got around to doing the audition last term and so Gugs, RMR’s station manager agreed for us to have them do something sort to send to her. Only Reggie and Xabiso came this weekend so we decided to audition both of them. We had then individually in studio read from a script where they introduced a show and the topic and then announced into a song, and finally back announced out of the song. Gugs essentially wants to see if they can be vibrant as hosts of a youth show. I think that Reggies strength is that you can tell that he enjoys listening to radio and can talk about the music he enjoys. He is also able to speak off the cuff. His weakness is that he doesn’t always get his words out fluently. My collegue Tom favours Reggie for this part but, my hesitation with him is that on radio, people usually have one chance to hear what you’re saying, and if he’s not speaking fluently then this could be a problem. Xabiso’s strength is that he does speak fluently. I personally think he has potential, he just needs some training and practice. He is very willing to learn, it’s just taking him a while to get used to the anchoring thing. His weakness is that he doesn’t necessarily speak well and vibrantly when he is impromptu. Once he was comfortable with the script he delivered it well, but the portions where he was meant to speak off the cuff and introduce his favourite song, he was quiet hesitant. This is a potential problem if he is going to be on live radio. <br /><br />Gugs has said that she will let us know by the end of the weekend if either of them will be chosen. Since today is a public holiday in our Lovely South Africa, I count this day as part of the weekend. I actually cannot wait to hear what she decides. As it stands, two of the RMR dj’s are hosting this show. With the content that we have produced so far, it makes sense to me that the content would be dispersed throughout the show. <br /><br />With only the work of three people that is ready to be broadcast, my concern is that we won’t have enough content for more than a week. Our only hope is to sort out the arrangements with the Upstart management team so we can have the rest of the Upstart team arrive next week so that we can start intensively producing content.<br /><br />Refilwe</span>Words by Refilwehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02376708679767969292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252937090005780126.post-61475353643301538612011-04-26T12:36:00.002+02:002011-04-26T12:40:17.837+02:00Let the Production Begin<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We had our first session for the term with the team last week Friday but had some more glitches. Also, with the long weekend coming up, there are some implications for our production and the day of sessions with the team. Let me take you though a few of the thing that occurred over the weekend with the Upstart Radio team. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-13V2BKtVNco/Tbag-3iwUNI/AAAAAAAAACI/kzhsfvaeyfQ/s1600/P1010014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-13V2BKtVNco/Tbag-3iwUNI/AAAAAAAAACI/kzhsfvaeyfQ/s320/P1010014.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br /><a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This term is our production term and this past week the aim was to start generating content. Due to a communication breakdown between us and the Sethumo, the intern at Upstart who organises the Upstarters, we were unable to have a fully productive Friday session. Only three Upstaters arrived, two of whom (Ncubeko and Aphiwe) are no longer part of our team of six since they have academic commitments on Friday’s. This means that essentially we only had one member arrive. With only the skeleton of our team present, we decided that we would ask them to do the smaller stuff that will be used in our slot on YUNG Amplified. Aphiwe Mame looked up interesting facts; Ncubeko was interested in celebrity news while the other Aphiwe looked for brain teasers. Tom and I will have to make sure we’re communicating effectively with Sethumo from here on end, but I’m happy that this session wasn’t a waste. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We spent the rest of Friday afternoon contact the team members to let them know about Saturday’s session. We were working with Shireen, Upstarts project manager, who contacted Simamkele and Bathabile, our two new members. They all arrived on time for the second session of the weekend save for Tom who was stuck getting the last of his documentary interviews and Aviwe who couldn’t come because of Accounting extra lessons at school. We met briefly in the “newsroom” to discuss what we would be doing for the day in terms of generating content. I had downloaded and put into one folder all the previous Upstart editions and we decided that everyone would look at a different edition and spot a timeless article that they would rewrite in a new format for radio. They all went to it and about half and hour into the session, I realised how this isn’t the most riveting of tasks to do. They’re in high school, as Bhatabile feell asleep at his computer I had to chuckle! This is work they give to the intern in the newsrooms I’ve been to! But, alas, these sorts of things must get done because there is some rich material in Upstart that can and must be exploited. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">To solve the problem of boredom, I sat done with Bathabile and thought of ways to remake the article. The one he selected was from one of the earliest editions of Upstart about body image. This was based on a workshop a lecturer from Rhodes University had given the Upstaters. The writer of this particular article went about asking other Upstarters what they thought was the perfect body. We chatted about what Bathabile would do to make this translate to radio relevant to the show. Together we decided that he will take a recorder to his next Upstart session and ask a few of his peers questions about their understanding of body image and their ideal body. We will then work on packaging this in the coming weeks and look into getting someone who is knowledgeable on this topic to come and chat to Bathabile in studio about the comments his peers have made. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Reggie worked on facts about the Paris and Switzeland based on a former Upstarters experience, Xabiso did a rewrite on a piece on China, but turned it into what will become a straight read on interesting things about China. Aphiwe rewrote from an article on solar cars and Simamkhele’s piece will be about the history of Mary Waters, the woman the school was named after. Tom and I helped them tweak their scripts so that they are ready for voicing at our next session. We went back into our newsroom, which is really the seminar room in the radio section of the journalism department and looked at the dummy copy of Upstart with the intention of having them select material they could go home and rewrite and be reading for the next session. It turns out that most of them had contributed to this edition and we were able to have them repurpose their own articles for radio. They were very keen. This will be an ongoing process of getting the content and packaging it over the coming weeks as we get closer to the day of our first show.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Before I get ahead of myself talking about the day of the show, we do have the Easter holiday coming up, meaning we lose our two production days. We have decided to meet on Monday and Wednesday to make up for these two days. We have a great deal to get done in terms of producing the content and getting mock shows done all in preparation for our weekend in May where we’ll be reclaiming the airwaves!</span></div>Words by Refilwehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02376708679767969292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252937090005780126.post-87152778711882146002011-04-26T12:31:00.000+02:002011-04-26T12:31:48.546+02:00The End of a Term<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The first term has come to an end and I’d like to reflect on the a few things that have come out of the research phase. When we embarked on this project I remember thinking about how abstract it all felt. With every week, Tom and I have planned each session, but because this is still new to us and the Upstart team, we have been feeling our way through some of the research phase. Standing at the end of the first phase we now have a good sense of what we need to accomplish in the second phase that will be about implementing the things we have found out in the first phase. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-833kRt-Q1gA/Tbad-XjKCzI/AAAAAAAAACA/gHl_HaE3TgI/s1600/P1010010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-833kRt-Q1gA/Tbad-XjKCzI/AAAAAAAAACA/gHl_HaE3TgI/s320/P1010010.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Tom and Xabiso in the studio looking at the levels while someone records their radio talk</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></div><a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Before I go into the decisions we’ve made for the second phase, I’d like to write a little about the changes that have taken place. I mentioned last time that two members Aviwe and Ncubeko were no longer able to attend the Friday sessions. They now have extra lessons at school and we felt that their education is really important. Shireen, Upstarts poject manager, decided that it would be best for Aviwe and Ncubeko to focus their studies and be relieved of the responsibility of working with Upstart Radio on top of their academic pressure. Tom and I agreed and two new members have since joined to take their place. The two new members are very keen and they joined us when we had our end of term editorial meeting. We brainstormed some ideas for the shows and they were full of ideas. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">With two new members we will have monitor closely and be deliberate about forming a team bond. The last thing I would like to see is the new members feeling divided from the team that have to work with. For the next few sessions as we prepare for our first broadcast we will have to begin with some icebreakers that will help put everyone at ease and get to know each other. We may not have very much time but they all need to learn to get used to each other. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The heart of our participatory project with Upstart has from the start been about sustainability. Towards this effort, one of the team members will be selected as an anchor for the YUNG Amplified show. YUNG Amplified, RMR’s youth show that airs weekly on Saturday and Sunday for two hours is the show on which Upstart Radio will be broadcast. There are two possible formats we could use for the show. One would be a thirty minute magazine type show that will have various segments of features and discussions as well as jokes and shout-outs. This format is ideal for the fact that the Upstarter’s would have a specific show that they can say they put together. The other format would be to have the content that dispersed throughout the YUNG Amplified two hour show on Saturday. The features would be used as starting points for conversations in the show. The advantage with this is that the discussions that come after features will not be limited to the time that is stipulated in the running order. It would also allow the team to focus their energies on finding content and editing packages without the responsibility of then having to put a show together.&nbsp; We will spend the first three weeks of the term deciding which format works the best.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">To help with producing content, we have decided that we will use “stringers” as part of our extended team. Ten Upstart members will be identified and given an intensive crash course on how to use recorders and conduct interviews for radio. They will then be given recorders to use when they go out on Upstart excursions and events. One of our own members has been on an excursion to Addo Elephant Park and she enjoyed having her recorder with her and asking her peers about the excursion. There they will collect content for us that the Upstart radio team will then package. We are scheduling more editing lessons for our team so that they are able to perform the task of producing packages with the content they receive. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Our project is based on the notion of service learning which is on the same continuum as community service and volunteering (Furco, 1996). In service learning goal is for the person giving the service to benefit as much as the community benefit (Furco, 1996). There needs to be balance between the learning outcomes and the service being provided (Furco, 1996). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We have our plans for term two laid out. The challenge of getting Upstart Radio up and running really begins now. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Refilwe</span></div>Words by Refilwehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02376708679767969292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252937090005780126.post-91421905916635129782011-04-11T02:49:00.004+02:002011-04-26T12:42:12.388+02:00The one about Recording<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Two weeks ago I wrote about the time constraints we were experiencing and how nervous this was making me. We have since then decided to meet both on Friday and Saturday and I think that this worked well. We did, however, meet with another minor glitch; two of the team members, Aviwe and Ncubeko, are no longer able to come to the Friday session. This means that they now miss out on an hour and a half of the work we do. I’m learning quickly that working with people does get complicated but there are always ways of working around the issues that arise. We decided that until we can find another solution, what we will do is continue with our Friday sessions as normal and give Aviwe and Ncubeko homework for the Friday session that they can send with friends. We will then spend Saturday helping them catch up the work that they may have missed on the Friday. <o:p></o:p></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_pmo5v69b4c/TbahdqUcbCI/AAAAAAAAACM/1QcjY6B2QYo/s1600/P1010028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_pmo5v69b4c/TbahdqUcbCI/AAAAAAAAACM/1QcjY6B2QYo/s320/P1010028.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">During this Friday’s session, the Upstart team had their first go at recording their radio talks and then also had an opportunity to do more takes on Saturday. We then introduced them to interviewing and how to use recorders. I think it’s a valuable exercise to write a little bit about what both of these sessions were like. We recorded individual radio talks the team took time after every recording to give each other feedback.&nbsp; Tom and I then also commented on what could be done to improve their next takes. As much as they were unfamiliar with the studio and have a limited vocabulary in terms of technical radio knowledge I was surprised at how much they knew about the presentation and what works and doesn’t work. I think it was a valuable exercise for them to keep in mind that its people of their age group that are targets and feedback from others allows them to gauge how they will be received on radio. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I was often tempted to fix the grammar on some of the team members’ scripts.&nbsp; I keep thinking: do I edit the work, and make the team sound polished or would that be taking away from their personality and originality? I decided not to, and I’m still not sure if I should have.&nbsp; I did make a suggestion in the case of one of the team members to rather say “and I fell off the tree” rather than “...and then I fall off the tree” because that sentence glared at me the most. The debate in my mind is that because these children are ultimately producing radio talks that may be used for a professional radio show, the standard must be high. In the same breath, I have to remind myself that this radio show is in part being produced by high school children and one needs to hold on to what is&nbsp; unique about&nbsp; their&nbsp; writing. But I guess corrections can be made, as long as the meaning is not taken away by the editing. When I listened to last year’s Upstart radio, one of my central points of critique was that the anchors sounded very scripted and older than they really were and this may be because their scripts were edited by the radio journalism students working with them last year. So with that said, this year my personal challenge will be to find the balance between the teams writing to reflect them and helping them improve their writing. I suppose I’ll find that balance as we go along and such moments of reflection present themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">On Saturday, we recorded the final takes of the radio talk. I was in one studio with Ncubeko and Aviwe to give them one-on-one coaching since they had missed out on the Friday’s session. You can see when a person is behind the microphone for the first time. I know that it took me a while before I was comfortable enough to speak behind a microphone and learn to sound natural. Aviwe and Ncubeko took some time to warm up. I thought it very important to make sure that they didn’t feel pressured in any way and were allowed to feel relaxed. Aviwe recorded first and her instinct was to read through her script as fast as she can and try not to make any mistakes. When she did, she would jumble her words and just move on. During the next few takes I stopped her mid-sentence if she continued with this and made her start that sentence again. Her reading slowed down once she got comfortable behind the microphone. With Ncubeko, it was a little more difficult. I really enjoyed his script . His was about how much he loves his little sister. Unfortunately he struggled the most with sounding natural. I tried explaining to him that he sounded as if he was reading rather than talking and I could see the confusion on his face. With him, my strategy was then to play back some of his recordings and have him comment on it. He still seemed to struggle and I had to stop him during takes to point this out.&nbsp; Eventually, my solution was to have a conversation with him, after which I was able to contrast his radio talk and his tone during our conversation. Consequently, his last take was a lot better. I think that if he had a day to go home and get a little more comfortable with his script, he might sound even less scripted and nervous behind the microphone. Unfortunately we did have time constraints because the rest of the team was done with their final takes and we had to move on to the next part of the session. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Overall, I think that the strongest talk was done by Xabiso who speaks about his parents. He speaks about how his father taught him how to drive and how understanding and caring his mother is towards him. He tells of how he fell off a tree and broke his arm but his mother never once reprimanded him. I think that his and other radio talks could be used in a segment of the show that we could call something like “my local hero”. With this segment, radio talks could feature sometimes and other times people that the youth admire could be interviewed. Another member, Reggie spoke about his favourite comedian as the most important person in his life. I think that this reflects an aspect of the show that we cannot neglect, humour. The thing I found particularly interesting about his talk is that he doesn’t know the comedian he describes personally. It might be interesting to explore on the show the extent to which celebrities or icons in the media impact on young people’s identities. This can be done in a light hearted way, by, for example, looking at how young people talk, how they dress and what they buy based on the people they idolise or really like. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">For next week Friday we were going to introduce the group to interviewing and how to use a recorder. We decided to squeeze that session in at the end of Saturday’s session, while we had the whole team so we could send them home with recorders to put the lesson into practice. For Friday, with Aviwe and Ncubeko missing again, we will now have an editorial discussion.&nbsp; Aviwe and Ncubeko will nevertheless also be able to make their contribution to this discussion, since we have sent them home with a few questions to answer with regards to their vision for the show.&nbsp; Their responses will then be used in our editorial discussion next Friday, so that their ideas are present even without them being there physically. At the end of the Saturday session, we returned to the seminar room and went over principles of how to use recorders and interview someone. This session was rather tight, since some of the participants had arrived late and we were therefore running out of time. I’m not too worried though, because they have all done some interviewing while being at Upstart. It is the recorders that may prove to be a challenge to use because the recording quality is not always great on the first try. The group has now been tasked with interviewing someone important to them at home. We have given them some guiding questions but they have free reign on where they want to take the interviews since they are interviewing someone they know rather closely. We will be listening back to the recordings next week Saturday and I’m keen to hear what they will sound like.&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></div>Words by Refilwehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02376708679767969292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252937090005780126.post-45627899329755532762011-03-14T16:30:00.006+02:002011-04-26T12:21:36.380+02:00Writing for radio<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This past Friday we met with the Upstart Radio team and began writing for radio. We asked them to write a radio script about someone important in their lives. The process began with a “free writing” exercise in which they wrote for a few minutes everything that came to their minds without raising their pens. We then played a few examples of some radio talks so that they would have an idea of how they should go about changing their free writing notes to a radio script that would be written for the ear. The team then began writing their scripts with assistance from Tom and me. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-od7XK9iqtr8/TbacVO0XHdI/AAAAAAAAAB4/p16rVe4t-mk/s1600/P1010006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-od7XK9iqtr8/TbacVO0XHdI/AAAAAAAAAB4/p16rVe4t-mk/s320/P1010006.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Reggie editing his script&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">I hoped that this exercise would be a continuation of what we began in our Body Maps session. Asking the team to write about someone important to them required a level of trust and comfort with each other. I think that by expecting them to do this kind of writing, we were affirming the existence of this relationship of trust. This was an important aspect of Friday’s exercise for me. While the team wrote their scripts Tom and I went around reading these drafts and helping them refine them. Asking each of the Upstarters individual questions about their scripts helped me get a better sense of what they were trying to express. When I tried to get them to clarify, it was interesting to hear stories that explained what they were saying. One of the team members spoke about how his dad took him for his first driving lesson without warning. When he told the story to me, you could hear the love and affirmation he felt from his father. I could also hear the smile on his face while he told the story. I tried to encourage them to use these stories in their talks because they had the effect of “showing” rather than just telling what their experience with the important person in their life was. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">We asked them to read back their scripts to the whole team and this further allowed them to try and explain themselves as we gave them feedback. We then tasked them with going back home and further editing their scripts for this coming week’s session, where we will be recording the radio talks. I’m happy with what they managed to produce in a 20 minute writing session. Two wrote about their relationships with their parents. One team member tells of how her mother has disciplined her before, but she knows that through that, he mother always shows her love. Others spoke about their friends and siblings and the things they love the most about them. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">We will be having two sessions next week. In addition to our Friday afternoon workshop we will now have a Saturday slot as well. &nbsp;I mentioned last week that I’m getting nervous because all we had was an hour and a half per week, and that I definitely thought we needed more time. &nbsp;Because of this, we have now agreed with the team on making some extra time, and it seems that Saturdays are ideal for everyone. I’m rather relieved. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">With things beginning to fall in place, we do need to finalise our agreement with Rhodes Music Radio. We will be meeting with Gugulethu, the station manager on Tuesday to talk about what will be expected of the Upstart Radio team regarding the content that RMR needs. Last year’s team produced four half hour shows that demanded a great deal from that team. This year we want to reduce the work load and set realistic goals for what can be achieved and sustained by school children when Tom and I are no longer part of the project. We have an idea on how to do this but we do need to decide this in consultation with RMR. More on this as soon as the details are clear.</div></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Refilwe</span><o:p></o:p></div></div>Words by Refilwehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02376708679767969292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252937090005780126.post-45763542522832914292011-03-07T16:00:00.002+02:002011-04-11T02:53:31.757+02:00The beginning of something great<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 150%;">Last week we short listed ten of the Upstarters, based on essays that they had written for this purpose. On Wednesday, we called in the children who ended upon the short-list for an interview. I think that, for most of them this was probably the first time that they had to take part in an interview. And there was, of course, a fair amount at stake, since only six out of the&nbsp;</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">short-list</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 150%;">&nbsp;of ten would make it onto Upstart Radio! The whole time, I kept thinking about how I hated being the one who would crush their radio dreams.</span></span><br /><div style="line-height: 150%;"></div><a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The thing about interviews is that the interviewers want to get to know you. Yes, there is some degree of wanting to see if you are ideal for the job, but that doesn’t mean you’re meant to put on a persona. I had the impression that these children felt a need to be smart and give the right answers, which is understandable, given that they were competing for positions on the radio team. But you could still see through their performances, to the real children, full of vulnerabilities and anxieties. It was so sweet watching them walk in to the room, not sure where to sit or what to do with their hands. My approach was to smile, and to try to make them feel comfortable. The names I put forward after the interviews were of those who I felt were best able to be themselves and engage with us. I didn’t consider how well they performed but rather the degree to which they were able to talk engage and talk honestly with us.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">From our brief interaction, I got the impression that the team members that we choose will perhaps be able to express themselves properly, in their own terms, once we have establish a space where they can have the freedom to do this . Shireen Badat, Upstarts project manager, sat through the interviews with us and I remember that when she stepped out briefly, the boy we were interviewing engaged a little more with us. One reason for this was that, without Shireen there, we were able to ask him more of our own follow up questions that gave us a better sense of who he is. He also seemed to ease up, speaking a lot more about himself. Tom and I are not too far off from their age group so we will need to find a way to use this to our advantage, remembering to remain relevant to their age group and helping them feel like equals in the process of creating the radio show. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We had our first session on Saturday afternoon after a disappointing turn out on Friday which was the day we had originally scheduled to meet. In designing this session, Tom and I tried to keep in mind that the Upstart Radio team members come from about four different schools.&nbsp; This means that they are not very familiar with each other, never mind with us, so it was important that from the first session we would work at getting to know each other. Our session was planned in such a way that everyone would interact with each other. Before we officially began the session I noticed how the team members all sat quietly, like well behaved children in a classroom. There needs, of course, to be a level of respect for each other but the last thing I want is for them to be coming to the sessions every week and raising their hands before they speak. We want to create a space that allows everyone to feel comfortable with each other, and also for them to own the process as equal contributors to the show and the creation of knowledge that takes place in the radio labs. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But, as much as we want to create an environment where everyone feels like they’re an equal, I think that Tom and I still need to acknowledge that, as Rhodes students, we are older and more experienced than the Upstart team, and play a different role to them in this process. As a related point, the workshops are run in the journalism department which is a space that Tom and I are familiar with, whereas the Upstart Radio Team is not. I could see, during the workshop that because of this, there are already uneven power relations at play and it’s going to take a lot more than ice breakers and chatting about ourselves to make the Upstarters feel like our equals. I think that once we start producing content, they will begin to feel this as some of the content will be about topics that they themselves are well informed and interested in such as hero’s in their neighbourhoods. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I also think that at some point, Tom and I will need to visit the team members at their schools or homes.&nbsp; This will perhaps help with the issue of power dynamics, since; we will then be placed outside of our comfort zones.&nbsp; Maybe being in a place where they are at home will somehow balance the scales and make them feel like they are co-producers of knowledge. That’s how it all plays out in my head at least and I hope that things will get better in the coming weeks. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Our first exercise in Saturday’s workshop was an ice breaker in which we all stood in a circle, throwing a ball back and forth. The idea was that everyone would throw the ball to someone else and say that person’s name and ask them a simple question which they must answer. We went around about five times and by the end I was confident of everyone’s name and even the pronunciation. I got a sense from one of the team members that names are important to them. I already know this for myself, but someone proudly stated his full name about three times when they first arrived and I think that this points to how his name is part of his identity. These are the small things we will need to pick up and respect in order to gradually come to a place where we can comfortably say we know each other. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There’s so much I enjoyed about the session, but I have difficulty writing about it in this space because of the importance of confidentiality.&nbsp; We established in our session that what we discuss in the radio labs would remain there. I think that once we established that as a rule, people began to loosen up. This brings me back, I guess to the point about power relations. I remember that moment in those initial interviews, when Shireen stepped outside and the boy we were interviewing seemed to loosen up a little more and engaged with us. His answers weren’t any different when Shireen stepped back in but there was a lowered level of that put-on “respectability”, for lack of a better word. I could feel that respectability again when they arrived at the journalism department - and that’s the layer we have to find a way to peel away so that we can start having fun and creating a fun show. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Over the weekend I drew up two session plans for the upcoming training programme, and I realised we are actually trying to achieve too much in a limited time. A key problem is the restrictions that we face in terms of contact time with the team. Our problem is that the team members don’t seem to have another common day where all of them are available to meet with us. This means we only have four sessions remaining with them for the preparatory phase of this project. After that they need to be ready to go on air! Drawing up the session plan I had to adjust the times to try and fit everything in. I think we are going to have to go back to the drawing board and find another day to work with them. If we don’t, I can see ourselves struggling to fully realise the weekly goals that we set ourselves and the team not learning as much as they need to in order to put on a good show. I’m thinking about what else needs to get done and I’m beginning to get nervous.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Refilwe<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>Words by Refilwehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02376708679767969292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252937090005780126.post-53251647940655100222011-02-28T07:46:00.001+02:002011-04-11T02:54:34.256+02:00Thoughts before the start<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"></span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Our partnership with Upstart is finally beginning but until we actually meet the young people we will be working with, it all feels abstract. We’ve met with Shireen Badat, the Project manager of Upstart and Tom and I are making plans, but it’s all going rather slowly because we haven’t really begun doing the practical work. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"></span></span></div><a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Before it does start, it is probably useful to consider the fact that the point of my partnership with Upstart is that it is supposed to operate as a form of in-service learning. As I understand it, in-service learning is on the same continuum as volunteering and community service. The main aim of service learning, however, is that I, as a provider of a service and Upstart, as the recipient, have equal benefit from the relationship. Because of this, there needs to be a balance between the emphasis on what I learn and the focus on the service I provide. So, with this in mind, I’m taking a few minutes to reflect on my feelings about the community I will be serving through this project, and what I think will be the importance of our project with Upstart. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Since it was first established, Upstart has concerned itself with enriching the lives of young people.&nbsp; As I understand it, a central aim has to been to provide the ‘Upstarters’ with extra mural activities that will help them develop confidence as young adults. A key focus, in this context, is the development of writing and reading skills. Shireen, in our very first meeting, spoke about literacy levels being low amongst grade eight learners who are the part of the target group of Upstart. My sense is that the remedial programs that Upstart have started in and around Grahamstown to deal with this problem make an important contribution to this group. I think, however, that the medium of radio offers unique opportunities for these youths, over and above those that become possible in the context of print. In particular, through radio, they can express themselves in a way that would not be possible on paper. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">I think that the importance of Upstart is that it provides young people with an opportunity for social agency, for self-expression and for learning. I think that Upstart Radio can take these goals that one step further by allowing the team to lift what is started in the Upstart newspaper off the page and bring it to the airwaves.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The youths at Upstart were told about the opportunity of being selected as part of the Upstart on Radio team. Their task was to write a motivational essay, stating why they think they should be chosen for the Upstart Radio team. Shireen has gone through these essays; Tom and I also have the opportunity of looking through them and in this way identify possible candidates for the short list.&nbsp; On Tuesday, we will be interviewing these candidates, and then make the final selection for the team. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The essays were so sweet and I’m having a hard time deciding objectively who to pick and who to disappoint. Some of the children mentioned how proud their sick parent would be, others spoke about their hope for an opportunity such as this and that it may be the platform from which they can launch their continuity presenting careers.&nbsp; One of them even apologised for not knowing any of RMR’s shows and explained that this was due to the signal not reaching her area of the township. How do I pick a child based on what s/he has written when I know that I don’t always sound convincing on paper? Tom, Shireen and I will ultimately have to pick six pupils from Upstart, whatever my feelings may be. The question is - do I put forward names based on how articulate they are? I think that this is what I will have to do because they will ultimately be on radio and need to express themselves as best as possible. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">I also think that because they are only in high school, they may be used to a classroom format where they are told what to do and how to do it. I love to teach and show people how to do things, but that will only be doable as far as our workshops on the technical stuff will go. When it comes to actually doing radio, speaking, the script and how the personality of the show comes together, I think a lot of that will comes down to individual personalities and the chemistry of the team. Tom and I just might have our work cut out for us if the chemistry of the team has to be created. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">From my tutoring work last year, I think I learned a great deal about how to produce good radio. From working with the second year students on a magazine show, my own work improved greatly in terms of news gathering, and producing stories.&nbsp; My technical ‘ear’ also improved because of marking their work. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">I think from this partnership I will learn how to work with people different to myself and of a different age group which I have shied away from in the past. No doubt, I will be exposed to different ways of thinking that I have to learn to appreciate. Because of this, I think this partnership presents me with an opportunity of learning how to adapt radio to a different age group and this is something that I will consciously have to keep in mind. The team may not be happy with a rigid form of radio, but will be focused on creating fun radio as defined by a teenager. This will be a learning process for me because I have only been taught a limited format of radio journalism, in context of the very structured J2 magazine show and my third year news and current affairs work. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">One of the kids in his essay commented that last year’s shows were very boring.&nbsp; I think that our challenge will be to make our show fun by 15-18 year old standards. This means that decisions we make towards what content we produce, the topics and the guests will have to be greatly informed by the team. This will also be an opportunity for them to consult with their friends and peers at school as a form of informal research that they conduct towards the creation of the show. Feedback from the Upstart team will also be important so that we can gage, from them as our part of the target age group, whether we are succeeding or needing to focus our shows a lot more. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">I am also conscious that, whatever we achieve through the show will have to be decided in consultation with RMR. The station will be providing us with the airtime and it is imperative for us to produce a show that will meet the required standards. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">&nbsp;Let the training and research begin!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Refilwe<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div></span>Words by Refilwehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02376708679767969292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-252937090005780126.post-83622340089711881062011-02-17T20:47:00.000+02:002011-02-18T15:43:57.196+02:00Welcome!This blog will be about the work that my partner Tom Sizeland and I produce in partnership with the young people from Upstart that will be selected as part of the radio team as well as Rhodes Music Radio. We will spend the first term planning the shows and the second part of the term in the production phase. Make sure you follow this blog so you can keep up with what we get up to.Words by Refilwehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02376708679767969292noreply@blogger.com0